


Sell Us Down the River

by CplCrimp



Series: Auspice of Echoes [3]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Animal Death, Dead People, Implied/Referenced Character Death, graveyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25835239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CplCrimp/pseuds/CplCrimp
Summary: Liontail and Sandpaw explore what lay down the Ivy-Flame border river.
Relationships: Past Redstrike/Newtspots
Series: Auspice of Echoes [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874593
Kudos: 2





	Sell Us Down the River

Sandpaw rushed quickly across the Flower Field. Certainly, she was a descendent of Flamingstar.

Liontail sat near a swath of snow-on-the-mountain, watching his apprentice affectionately. She was only eight moons old, and on her current pace, she would likely be made a warrior at eleven. The cream tabby streaked across the field after a stray rabbit, her red tail fanning out behind her like fire.

The rabbit was quicker. It dove into a thick bundle of shrubs, but Sandpaw did not stop the chase. She was small, but Liontail didn’t think she was small enough.

Well, they couldn’t all be winners.

Liontail shook his head and smiled, pacing his way down the woven wall of foliage. Sandpaw flailed and grunted, trying to free herself.

“Easy there, cutleaf,” Liontail said. Sandpaw sighed, her head and one foreleg lodged forcefully into the shrub. The big golden tom reached onto the top branch that trapped Sandpaw’s foot. He lifted it gently, letting her pull it out. He did the same to her head. Sandpaw popped out of the branches with red ears.

She shook her head and batted at an ear with her hind feet. “What’s back there, anyhow?”

Liontail flicked his tailtip. “The river, I’d guess.”

“From the lake?”

“Yes. I’ve never been back there, but I  _ do  _ know that rivers have to go somewhere.”

Sandpaw stared intensely at the foliage. Liontail knew that both of them were thinking the same thing.

“Wanna find out?”

Sandpaw purred and looked up at her mentor, adoringly. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Liontail nodded. Quickly, he thought of a way to turn this into a training moment, rather than a spur-of-the-moment adventure. He straightened up and got into his best mentor voice. “This is a test in problem-solving, Sandpaw. How do you think we should get past the barrier?”

Sandpaw glanced all around. She stood and sniffed around a bit, then sat on her hind feet and looked over the barrier. It was easily two tail-lengths tall. She turned to her mentor.

“Well, it’s too tightly grown to get through, and I can’t tell how deep the barrier goes. If the river truly goes behind it, as it should, then we should be able to walk along the river and wind up behind it.”

Liontail nodded. “Sounds solid to me.”

“Race ya!” Sandpaw said. She started to rush through the field, kicking up loose grass and dust from the flower petals.

“Hey! No fair!” Liontail called, running after her.

The entire left side of the Flower Field was carefully protected with tightly grown, and sometimes woven, foliage, trees and stones. Liontail had walked along the wall nearly everyday when he was merely an apprentice, and he had never once paid it any mind. After all, the Starpond sat along the river. The Starpond belonged to The Ancestors, not one clan. It made sense to block off what IvyClan did not own. He had never heard any other cat wonder, either.

Soon enough, Sandpaw and Liontail wound up in eastern IvyClan territory. The ground was damp and grassless, and Liontail had no breath left.

“Tired, old man?” asked Sandpaw, mockingly.

“Watch your mouth, cutleaf!” Liontail said back, a giggle in his voice. He rushed at Sandpaw, shoving her side into a thin part of the river. Both of them laughed wildly. Liontail let Sandpaw up quickly. She shook out her thin pelt before glancing back at the older tom for his approval. Liontail stepped into the chilly river, shoulder-to-shoulder with his apprentice.

They strut down the riverbank, and swam where they needed to. Eventually, they could no longer see the grassless area of IvyClan territory. No doubt about it, they had passed the wall. Sandpaw’s eyes shone with amazement. Liontail had to admit, it was rather exciting. Ahead sat a swath of small, blue flowers against several sharp-looking shrubs.

“Ooh,” he sounded, “Careful.”

The sharp-looking shrubs draped rather near the river. The two creamy cats stopped and stared at the situation. Liontail focused on the shrubs, unsure if they would be able to pass by under them.

“Hey - aren’t those forget-me-nots?”

Sandpaw’s voice made Liontail prick his ears and look at her. She was standing on her hind feet, and sniffed the small blue flowers rather intensely. She stepped down as Liontail neared, examining himself.

“I believe so,” he stated.

“Those only grow by the Starpond - don’t they?” Sandpaw asked.

“I think I’ve heard Squirrelbreeze saying that.”

Sandpaw swayed her gingery tail gently from side to side. “My mother used to tell me that each time a cat died, a new forget-me-not would spring up.”

Liontail nodded. “Rosewind and Rabbitfleck  _ would  _ believe things like that,” he whispered to himself. He thought bitterly about his own mother for a moment, but shook his head to erase the image of her. “We must be getting close to the--”

“What’s that?”

Sandpaw pushed fearlessly into the sharp shrubs. Liontail wasn’t too surprised- Sandpaw didn’t fear things such as pain. He took in a deep breath and pushed in after her. Fortunately, the inside of the shrubs were lightly-packed, and a bit higher. Additionally, the river dipped a little deeper, and grew to Liontail’s elbows. Sandpaw was staring deeply at one small burn down the side of smooth stone.

“So it  _ is  _ the Starpond,” Liontail stated with a light purr. Really, though, he was just as confused as Sandpaw was. “You wouldn’t have any idea what that is, would you? I don’t think StarClan would have a  _ leak  _ in their sacred water.”

Sandpaw took in a deep breath and spoke quietly, somberly, in a strange stern way that Liontail had never heard. “Hawktail told me that long ago, when the clans were first founded, that when Shore had been killed, his spirit tried to enter StarClan. Every StarClan cat was so disgusted with his actions in the living world that they came down to the Starpond and kicked him off the wall. As he fell, his claws carved this,” Sandpaw motioned to the burn with a paw, “Now, everytime a cat breaks one of the unbreakable codes, their spirit will also fall down this stream. It’s called the Trail to Darkness.”

Liontail had to swallow back a chuckle. He smiled as he asked, “Where did Hawktail hear a story like that?” he couldn’t stop himself from letting out the  _ slightest  _ laugh, “Hawktail and I were apprentices together. He was always a magnificent storyteller.”

Sandpaw flicked her tailtip, and her voice returned to her usual high and carefree tone. “I dunno. He said it was a family tale, straight from Flamingstar’s mouth. Must be a pureblood thing.”

Liontail twitched his whiskers and spoke sternly. “Sandpaw,  _ I’m  _ a pureblood.”

Sandpaw faced her large mentor and flicked an ear indignantly. “Ivystar didn’t kill Shore, Flamingstar did. She wouldn’t know what happened to him.”

Liontail sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Though, Sandpaw…”

Sandpaw had already turned around, preparing to head up the rest of the river. She looked over her shoulder, a bit surprised. “Yes, Liontail?”

“You know that, when a cat commits an unbreakable crime, we send them up this river, right?” Liontail asked, seriously.

Sandpaw sounded more serious, too. “...yes. I’ve heard that’s what happened to my father - isn’t it?”

Liontail nodded somberly. “Yes, that’s right. Would you like to guess why that’s the way IvyClan gets rid of their horrible cats, but FlameClan doesn’t?”

Sandpaw thought a moment, glancing between her paws and the burn in the Starpond’s side. Her eyes went wide as it dawned upon her.

“That’s how Ivystar got rid of Shore.”

Liontail nodded. “So no cat would ever have to see his face again.”

When Sandpaw flattened her ears and looked back down at her paws, Liontail suddenly worried that the topic was too heavy for her. After all, she  _ was  _ still an apprentice. The yellow tabby smiled and bonked their foreheads together, letting out a slight purr.

“You know your clan’s history well, Sandpaw. You’re just like Redstrike.”

Sandpaw peered up at her mentor, a small smile on her face. She smiled a bit wider and perked up a bit more. She faced the currants of the river and held her tail straight up.

“If this is where the bad cats go, I wonder how far we’ll have to go to find a dead body!” she stated.

“Woah there, cutleaf!” Liontail laughed, “I never said we were searching for bodies.”

Sandpaw looked up at her mentor with wide, watery eyes.  _ “Pleasseee, Liontaiilll?” _

Liontail rolled his eyes and sighed, smiling. “We’ll see.”

_ “GLARE YEAH!” _

Liontail chuckled.

Within several tail-lengths, the river deepened. Fortunately, though, as soon as it deepened, land rose up on IvyClan’s side of the river. Liontail shook out his thick pelt, Sandpaw wincing behind him. She shook herself just to spite him. Water droplets dripped from his whiskers. Sandpaw simply rose her tail, acting like she didn’t know what happened. Liontail padded forward before noticing two big rabbit footprints in the muddy river bank.

“Rabbit tracks,” he said, calling Sandpaw over to see as well. “This must be where the rabbit got from you.”

At that, Sandpaw glanced around the neat little clearing. “Not a bad bit of territory,” she said, “I wonder why we’ve blocked it off?”

Liontail flicked his tailtip. He faced his apprentice seriously. “Peregrine’s territory isn’t too far from here. But I’ve never seen a river near the Pasture.”

“Maybe the river dries up,” Sandpaw suggested with a flick of her ears.

“I’m not sure…” Liontail answered. The river beside them still babbled fervently, not to mention how it deepened. “Let’s find out.”

“Good plan.”

Liontail kept looking around for any sign of upwalker or pet activity. Unfortunately, the FlameClan wall on the river’s opposite side was too high to see very far over. Finally, Liontail was one thin, black tree.

“This is where IvyClan territory stops,” he said, focusing solely on the tree.

“Yeah - and look at  _ that!” _

Liontail glanced away from the tree. A gasp suddenly flew out of his mouth.

In front of them stood the gaping maw of a big, black hole. Grass fell over the lip of the tunnel, and the water didn’t seem to make it very far into it at all. Sandpaw rushed forward to the edge of the tunnel before Liontail could stop her.

_ “Sandpaw!”  _ he called, “Careful!”

“I can see a little gold, I think! And I can still hear the water!” Sandpaw replied. Liontail neared her, paws a bit shakey. “Can we go down? Can we, Liontail? Please? What if that gold is a cat?”

“Are you  _ crazy?”  _ Liontail spat.

“The Trail to Darkness is real! I’ve  _ gotta  _ know what’s down there… aren’t you curious?” Sandpaw answered.

Liontail had to admit, he was. Quickly, he gave in to his wide-eyed apprentice. “Are you sure we can get back up?”

“I think it’s maybe a fox or two down… we should be able to get out of that, shouldn’t we?” Sandpaw asked. Her glittery, excited eyes bore holes into Liontail’s face.

He sighed. “Fine. Just, be careful getting down, alright?”

Sandpaw flicked her tail. “I’m not a kit.”

“But you are someone’s.”

Steadily, Sandpaw reached into the hole. “Hey!” she cried. “There’s a rock, or, something.” She slowly stretched down, until even her fire-red tailtip was eclipsed in the darkness. Liontail took a deep breath, in and out, and followed. The rock was slimey, and only stuck out when half of Liontail’s body was in the mouth. He could see Sandpaw, sitting neatly on a muddy bank not much further down. His next pawstep reached the mud.

The tunnel was still mostly dark inside, though Liontail could tell it stretched much wider than the river. The river folded into a waterfall with only one foothold in the center. Both the cream cats glanced around, and both of their gazes landed on one thing.

Sandpaw’s eyes went wide, and her voice was strained. “Liontail, is that…”

Liontail could recognize her shape, even through the half-submersion in water and the burn wounds. The river wasn’t as deep here, so he entered the water. He lifted one of the golden molly’s feet, just to make sure. Black fur still clung under her smiley, molding claws.

“My mother, Sandpaw,” Liontail whispered. Sandpaw looked startled, though Liontail wasn’t sure if it was from finding a body, or from the state she was in. The tom had to admit, he was a bit surprised to find a body, but the fact that it was Thistlespots’ quenched the feeling right away.

Sandpaw walked past the tom. She grazed one wet paw on a bloody brown cat’s flank. The darkness was even stronger next to her. “This one- who’s this?” Sandpaw asked with a slight quiver in her voice.

Liontail walked all around her. He lifted a foot to find fur of a similar color under the claws. The tom gazed intently into the mysterious body’s face. All at once, it clicked.

“...this is my grandmother,” he mewed, “Briarstorm.”

Sandpaw had also been looking around the body, and saw the fur under the old cat’s claws. “You met her?” she asked. “But, the fur under her claws… it’s the same color as her.” Sandpaw furrowed her brows, clearly trying to place her cause of death.

“Driftskip,” Liontail rasped.

Sandpaw jumped back in sheer surprise.  _ “Driftskip?” _

“Yes,” Liontail replied. “Dustfeather told me. While she was still being carried, Spidersting asked Driftskip to kill her own mother. Briarstorm would’ve hurt Dustfeather just as she had hurt Spidersting, when she was a kitten. She favored Thistlespots, so I was never hurt by her. It was all for the greater good.”

“Your family had a worse history than I thought.” Sandpaw chuckled tightly, and Liontail could tell she was starting to get unnerved. Quite frankly, he was too. He didn’t expect so much of his kin to be thrown down the river. Sandpaw, scared, glanced upward one more time. More gold and more spots sat in the muggy river.

Both Liontail and Sandpaw started to near the tom, but stopped short. He had a spot on his shoulder in the exact same place as Sandpaw’s. His ears were darker, just like Sandpaw. Liontail neared his face. He had freckles, just like Sandpaw.

Liontail lifted his paw, just to make sure…

Caught in the underside of the claws was fur the exact same color as Sprucepaw.

“Liontail,” Sandpaw was quiet, clearly unnerved. “Is that…?” The thin molly neared the tom and gave him one quick sniff. “He…” her voice choked up suddenly. “He smells sorta like Sprucepaw.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Liontail commanded, suddenly stern.

“Liontail, wait--!” Sandpaw pleaded as Liontail leaped pass her.

_ “Sandpaw,”  _ Liontail scolded, turning cold eyes over his shoulder to glare at his apprentice.  _ “I said,  _ let’s  **leave.”**

♦☆☄☆♦

Liontail hauled Sandpaw out of the tunnel, and the two steadily made their way back to camp. The sun was starting to turn the sky orange by the time they had made it. Liontail delivered Sandpaw to Squirrelbreeze without a word to her, and ordered the healer to give her something for her nerves. After taking a dose or two himself, he hopped upon the Healer’s Outlook.

The blood-red tabby pelt he was looking for was not too hard to spot against the yellow-green summer grass.

Redstrike was licking herself when Liontail neared, and courteously stopped before speaking. Liontail beat her to it. “Redstrike,” he started, quietly. No other cat needed to hear what he was about to say.

Redstrike looked concerned. The expression only worsened on her face after hearing Liontail’s next few words.


End file.
